CIO Association of Canada — Official Designation Body
The Chief Digital Services Officer Designation — CDSO.D™
The official standard for senior digital service leadership in the Government of Canada.
‘CDSO.D’ is a trademark of the CIO Association of Canada. Details subject to change.
A designation built for public-sector digital leaders
Are you a director-level or equivalent leader accountable for digital services in the federal public service? Are you looking to have that experience recognized against a national standard, by an independent body?
The Chief Digital Services Officer Designation (CDSO.D™) is awarded by the CIO Association of Canada to qualified digital service leaders who have completed the University of Ottawa NextGen Digital Leaders Development Program — or whose experience is recognized as equivalent — and who satisfy CIOCAN’s professional experience, assessment, membership and conduct requirements.
CDSO.D™ is the public-sector counterpart to CIOCAN’s CIO.D® designation. Where CIO.D® recognizes CIO-level leadership across Canadian industry, CDSO.D™ recognizes the distinct accountabilities of leaders who design and deliver digital services to the public: user-centred service design, digital delivery, measurable outcomes, cybersecurity, enterprise governance, ethics, accessibility, inclusion and whole-of-government leadership.
How the pathway works
Three organizations play distinct roles. Understanding which body does what matters, because each is accountable for a different part of the pathway.
University of Ottawa — Professional Development Institute
Delivers the program
The University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute (PDI) develops, maintains and delivers the curriculum and instructional content for the NextGen Digital Leaders Development Program, in collaboration with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. PDI owns the program curriculum and provides successful participants with a certificate or official record of completion.
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Collaborates on context
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) collaborates on the federal public service context, accountabilities and learning objectives for the program, supports the identification and participation of eligible Government of Canada employees, and — subject to applicable privacy requirements — can confirm a candidate’s employment level, scope of authority or leadership equivalency.
CIO Association of Canada
Awards the designation
CIOCAN is the official designation body for CDSO.D™. CIOCAN defines, maintains and publishes the standards; reviews and validates applications; develops and administers the assessment; issues certificates and digital credentials; and has sole authority to award, renew, suspend or revoke the designation.
CIOCAN does not deliver the NextGen Digital Leaders Development Program, and neither the University of Ottawa nor the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat awards the CDSO.D™ designation. Completing the program does not by itself confer the designation: candidates must apply to CIOCAN and satisfy all CDSO.D™ requirements, and CIOCAN makes the final determination on every application.
Step one — the University of Ottawa NextGen Digital Leaders Development Program
The NextGen Digital Leaders Development Program is designed for professionals who aspire to become digital executive leaders. It provides participants with the skills and knowledge, as well as an expanded network, to lead digital transformation initiatives and teams, implement emerging technologies, and align digital strategies with organizational objectives.
Action Learning Circles and coaching sessions are available in both official languages. Participants indicate their language preference on the program application form.
The program is developed and delivered by the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute, in collaboration with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Application deadline, cohort dates, format, schedule, prerequisite, attendance policy and fee are set out on the program page.
Important: the program admits participants from the IT-05 level upward, while the CDSO.D™ designation requires EX-1 or equivalent leadership level. Completing the program does not by itself make you eligible for the designation.
NOTE: If you have previously completed a NexGen Leadership cohort with uOttawa, you are also eligible to apply for your CDSO.D and must satisfy the remaining criteria.
Why earn the CDSO.D™
Independent recognition
Recognition of your digital service leadership against a national standard, held and governed by CIOCAN — not by your employer and not by your program provider.
Built for the public sector
A credential designed specifically around public-sector digital service delivery, rather than adapted from a private-sector model.
A credential you can display
A certificate and a digital credential, backed by CIOCAN’s published standards, renewal requirements and code of conduct.
No duplicated training
A designation that does not duplicate training you have already done: people management and financial management sit outside the CDSO.D™ assessment to the extent they are covered by existing Government of Canada authority delegation training and examinations.
A national peer network
Peer access to over 600 CIOs, CISOs and senior technology leaders across government, industry and the not-for-profit sector.
Events and programs
Access to CIOCAN member events, chapter programming and additional leadership programs, including the CIO Peer Forum®.
How to earn the CDSO.D™
To be awarded the CDSO.D™ designation, a candidate must satisfy each of the following. CIOCAN makes the final determination on every application.
- Program completion — successfully complete the University of Ottawa NextGen Digital Leaders Development Program delivered by PDI.
- Professional experience — at least three years of verifiable leadership-level experience applying an understanding of user needs to service design and digital delivery.
- Leadership level — be an EX-1 or equivalent leader, meaning a director-level or comparable senior management leader with similar scope of authority, accountability and impact.
- Evidence of experience — provide satisfactory evidence of experience in digital or service vision and strategy, delivery of measurable results through digital initiatives, and workforce digital capacity or culture change.
- Assessment — successfully complete the CIOCAN-administered CDSO.D™ assessment.
- Membership — be a CIOCAN member in good standing at the time of designation.
- Professional conduct — sign the applicable CDSO.D™ professional conduct and practice standards attestations, and acknowledge CIOCAN’s review, suspension and revocation processes.
The three experience areas
Digital or service vision and strategy
Including alignment with departmental and enterprise priorities, and the use of user research, service data and analytics.
Measurable results through digital initiatives
Including KPIs, user outcomes, secure and accessible solutions, risk management and continuous improvement.
Workforce digital capacity and culture change
Including adoption of agile, product management, service design, DevOps and data-driven decision-making, and inclusive, sustainable change.
What the experience evidence looks like
For each competency area, the CDSO.D™ candidate assessment template asks you to complete a self-check and to give one or two concrete examples. Each example should address the context, the scope, your role, the user needs involved, the data you used, the outcomes achieved, how you mitigated risk, what you learned, and what you adjusted as a result.
CIOCAN assessors may document verification questions and request follow-up. With your consent and subject to applicable privacy requirements, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat may help confirm your federal public service role level, scope of authority or leadership equivalency.
The CDSO.D™ assessment
CIOCAN develops, schedules, administers and evaluates the CDSO.D™ assessment, and sets its format, passing score and retake rules.
The assessment addresses knowledge and judgement in the following areas:
- Enterprise digital and service strategy and governance decision-making — including prioritization, adjudication and accountability.
- Investment alignment and portfolio governance — including enterprise initiatives, interoperability and service integration.
- Product management and human-centred service design at scale — including communities of excellence or knowledge networks, adoption and service improvement.
- Digital infrastructure enabling data governance — including CDO–CTO integration, platforms, reuse and stewardship enablement.
- Cybersecurity and enterprise risk management — including prevention, detection, response, recovery and incident governance.
- Enterprise digital services operations and modernization — including reliability, continuity, technical debt, vendor or shared services, and AI infrastructure.
- Whole-of-government digital leadership and partnerships — including horizontal collaboration, shared solutions and standards adoption.
People management and financial management are outside the scope of the CDSO.D™ assessment, to the extent they are addressed through existing Government of Canada authority delegation training and examinations.
Assessment format and scheduling details will be published ahead of the first assessment cycle.
Fees
CDSO.D™ applicants and designation holders pay all applicable CIOCAN fees directly to CIOCAN. Fees may be paid by the individual candidate or by a sponsoring organization.
- CDSO.D™ assessment fee — a one-time fee, payable to CIOCAN. The amount will be published ahead of the first assessment cycle.
- CIOCAN annual membership fee — C$645 for the 2026–2027 membership year, subject to annual adjustment.
The program fee for the University of Ottawa NextGen Digital Leaders Development Program is separate, is set by PDI and is payable to PDI. CIOCAN fees are not included in the program fee.
Maintaining your CDSO.D™
The CDSO.D™ designation operates on three-year renewal cycles. To renew, you must maintain CIOCAN membership in good standing and complete 90 continuing professional education (CPE) credits over each three-year cycle, focused on digital leadership and strategy, user-centred service design and delivery, data, technology and platforms, cybersecurity, public-sector digital policy, ethics and accessibility.
Next steps — how to obtain the CDSO.D™
Step One — Complete the program
- Apply to the University of Ottawa NextGen Digital Leaders Development Program through PDI.
- Complete the program and obtain your certificate or official record of completion from PDI.
Step Two — Apply to CIOCAN
- Apply for CIOCAN membership.
- Complete and submit the CDSO.D™ application to CIOCAN, with your CV, two letters of reference, your record of program completion and your signed attestations.
Step Three — Certify and maintain
- Register for and complete the CIOCAN-administered CDSO.D™ assessment.
- On approval by CIOCAN, receive your CDSO.D™ certificate and digital credential.
- Maintain your designation — CIOCAN membership in good standing, and 90 CPE credits over each three-year cycle.
About CIOCAN and this pathway
The CDSO.D™ designation is owned and administered by the CIO Association of Canada. The NextGen Digital Leaders Development Program is developed and delivered by the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute in collaboration with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.